Opera Now NEXT ISSUE APRIL 2017

Welcome

‘Useful’ can seem a loaded word when it is applied

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ROH COMMISSIONS NEW BENJAMIN OPERA

The Royal Opera House in London has announced the world

INTERNATIONAL OPERA SCHOOL TO LAUNCH IN WALES

Welsh National Opera (WNO) is to establish a fully

OBITUARIES

Nicolai Gedda, who died on on 8 January, had an illustrious

Rough ideas

Robert Thicknesse applauds an initiative that provides a platform for new works-in-progress while testing the idea of what opera can and should be for today’s creators and audiences

Artist of the Month DARWIN LEONARD PRAKASH

A chance encounter with a discerning voice coach prompted Darwin Leonard Prakash to trade in his life as a geology student in India to become a scholarshipwinning singing student in the UK, set for a high-flying career in opera. He tells his story to Amanda Holloway.

Natural born singer

Singing is a family affair for Sophie Bevan, the British soprano whose radiant, versatile voice is proving irresistible to the world’s major opera houses. Robert Thicknesse meets a seriously grounded young singer with innate musicality, a vivacious sense of fun and a fearless onstage presence that makes you feel there is nothing her voice can’t tackle

SONG FEAST

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World is much more than just a competition. The weeklong event in June feels like an international festival rather than a gladiatorial contest, celebrating the operatic voice in all its many colours. Simon Rees looks forward to this year’s instalment in the Welsh capital

COMPETITIONS DIARY

Opera Now looks ahead to some of this year’s key singing contests around the world

SECRET HELPERS

Jeremy Nicholas throws light on the hidden art of the répétiteur, first-rate pianists and all-round communicators who perform a vital but often unacknowledged role in the opera house

OF REAL USE

English Touring Opera’s education work represents some of the most successful and effective endeavours in this field, yet it receives no public funding. Robert Thicknesse meets Tim Yealland, the unsung hero of ETO’s outreach projects which help, enthuse, entertain and engage with marginalised audiences who might never otherwise have the chance to encounter opera

Legendary Singers

The American baritone Nelson Eddy (1901-1967) is remembered principally as a movie star whose velvety voice and amiable personality charmed filmgoers of the 1930s and ’40s. His onscreen celebrity has largely eclipsed his considerable accomplishments in the field of opera, where he diligently honed his natural talents as a singer

TRAVELS WITH MY OPERA GLASSES

Irrepressible wit, flamboyant fantasy and subversive satire are the flavour of the month for Professor Anthony Ogus, taking the form of Russian whimsy at the opera in Brussels to Gallic effervescence among a group of lively students – in Manchester, of all places

Squillo

MARKET FORCES

FIT FOR A KING

Amanda Holloway visits the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman’s unique performance venue which blends traditional craftsmanship with bold architectural statements from the country’s ancient past and forward-looking present

Rusalka Dvořák

Mary Zimmerman’s handsome new production of Rusalka peeks beneath the opera’s fairy-tale Romanticism, exploring its Freudian dimension. The storytelling is clear; missing is the pathos of the water nymph who gives up everything for love of a mortal Prince

Prototype Festival

New York’s fifth annual Prototype Festival, a key source

Tancredi Rossini

This early Rossini opera seria (1813) is dramaturgically creaky, but it has some splendid music, and numerous opportunities for the three principals to display their pyrotechnical skill

The Snow Maiden Rimsky-Korsakov

Here’s a real rarity: Opera North launched its winter season of fairy-tale operas with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1881 setting of a traditional Russian folk tale, Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden). This was a polished performance of a neglected gem, with a glittering score that deserves more recognition

Round-up UK

London, to its shame, couldn’t rustle up a full Wigmore

Lohengrin Wagner

Will he or won’t he? Any arguments over the ‘new production’ status of Claus Guth’s staging – first seen, in fact, at La Scala in 2012 – were upstaged by doubts over Jonas Kaufmann appearing in the title role

City focus Paris

At the Bastille Theatre, the Paris Opera introduced

City focus Florence

At the Opera di Firenze, director Bruno Ravella adapted

Meet in Galilee

The ancient port of Akko (or Acre) is one of the oldest

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V celebrity interviews, behind-the-scenes features

The power behind the throne

A remastered set of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf ’s unpublished EMI recordings show the legendary diva full of youthful vitality, experimenting with her voice in a wide range of repertoire, with the Svengali-like presence of Walter Legge always lurking in the background. Benjamin Ivry reports

NEW RELEASES CDs, DVDs & Blu-ray

Sometimes an opera aficionado will turn to a gathering

BOOKS

BEING WAGNER:THE TRIUMPH OF THE WILL

SPOT LIGHT

GUIDE TO NEW PRODUCTIONS & OPERA HIGHLIGHTS MAY-MAY 2017

EPILOGUE

24.Spirit with songs set by Purcell and Vaughan Williams